Should I start John Metchie or Zachariah Branch in Week 7?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on John Metchie, and the board ranks him 185th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Zachariah Branch, and the board ranks him 187th overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for John Metchie is 0.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 12 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Zachariah Branch is 0.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 12 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

John Metchie's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, John Metchie has been on the field for 35 percent of CAR snaps, drawn 9 percent of the targets and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 4 of the offence's 35 third down targets, had 0 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 3 of its 26 two minute targets.

His 13 targets have averaged 8.4 air yards.

In Week 3 against CLE he caught 2 of 5 targets for 19 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 4 against DET he caught 3 of 5 targets for 37 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against PHI he caught 2 of 3 targets for 24 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, Zachariah Branch has been on the field for 24 percent of ATL snaps, drawn 6 percent of the targets and had 0 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 2 of the offence's 47 third down targets, had 0 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 1 of its 18 two minute targets.

His 10 targets have averaged 1.1 air yards.

In Week 4 against NO he caught 2 of 2 targets for 10 yards and did not score.

In Week 5 against BAL he caught 2 of 2 targets for 15 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CHI he caught 2 of 2 targets for 9 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 John Metchie played 16 games and scored 71.9 PPR points, 4.5 a game, finishing WR87.

He caught 33 of 48 targets for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 5 red zone targets.

That came to 3.0 targets a game, a 69 percent catch rate and 8.3 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 43 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Zachariah Branch is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.

Head to head

This season John Metchie holds the bigger snap share, 35 percent against 24 percent.

This season John Metchie holds the bigger target share, 9 percent against 6 percent.

Byes and availability

John Metchie is off in Week 5 and Zachariah Branch in Week 11, so either can cover the other's bye.